Exam Results

GCSE Results 2012

Kingsmead's Class of 2012 is once again a sea of happy faces as pupils and staff celebrate another excellent GCSE year in which the academic high fliers soared and pupils of all abilities have done well.

In a mixed-ability year group of 26 pupils, some of whom came to Kingsmead specifically looking for individual support with their education, the results are impressive:

• 29% of all the GCSEs entered returned A* or A;
• 23% of pupils gained seven or more A*s and As;
• the top performing six pupils achieved 55 A*s and As between them.

Kara Anderson was awarded 7 A*s and 3 As; Caroline Welsh earned herself 7 A*s and 3 As and a scholarship to Birkenhead School Sixth Form, Dom Potter's 4 A*s and 6 As and a B take him on to Calday Grammar School, Miranda Smith got 2 A*s, 5 As and 2 Bs and Ed Wrightson's 1 A* and 9 As and a B take him on to West Kirby Grammar School Sixth Form. 

Another of our superstars is Richard Evans who started cross country running when he joined Kingsmead and now competes at national level. As well as his sporting prowess, Richard overcame his severe dyslexia and dyscalculia to achieve an amazing 10 A*- Cs.

Speaking as pupils collected their results, Headmaster Mark Gibbons said: "Kingsmead has proved once again that it is so much more than just a results factory. We exist to provide a place in which children of all abilities can be happy, learn and thrive. Our academic high fliers always soar, but our great strength is our ability to find and bring out the best in every child. The staff and I are very proud of how much they all have achieved this year.”

GCSE Results 2011

This summer we celebrate an academic version of the Wirral Festival of Firsts. First, the spotlight shines on Jo Davies and Jessica Cutts achieving an A* and an A respectively in the very recently introduced GCSE Expressive Arts course. Jo (Head Boy) and Jess (Deputy Head Girl) have frequently dazzled us with their stage performances and have proved that the development of creative talent is not inconsistent with academic rigour. In addition, as part of a pioneering cohort taking the freshly introduced Food and Nutrition, Lizzie Davies is the first Kingsmead student to obtain an A grade in this GCSE subject.

At this year's Prizegiving, top academic honours go to Jonathan Welsh. With 10 A* grades and one A. Jonathan looks forward to studying A Level Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Mathematics at Birkenhead School. What is even more remarkable is the fact that these results represent an achievement of 18 grade points above that expected on entry to the secondary school. Special mention goes also to Nathaniel Alsop whose conscientious approach was rewarded with four A*grades, two A grades, three B grades and a C.

Head Girl Coral Moore was delighted with her A grade in GCSE Religious Studies having worked her way up from a base-line attainment three and a half grades lower than this. Eric Grainger well deserved the Gilly Cutts Trophy for strength of character in the face of adversity and managed to obtain GCSE results with a value added score of 12.5 grades. Oliver Kennedy-Harris is also to be highly commended for achieving results giving him a value added score of 17 grades.

As a non-selective school with small cohorts, Kingsmead's GCSE statistics are bound to fluctuate from year to year. However, the fact that 70% of students achieved A* - C grades is truly cause for celebration. This is all the more true since a significant number of students joined us for their final year having been affected by the sudden closure of a local independent school whose GCSE options were not a perfect fit with ours. It is testimony to the nurturing Kingsmead environment that every of these students started their year disadvantaged by unforeseen change yet finished it rejoicing that they had been enabled, by their short time with us, to move on to the destination to which they aspired.

GCSE Results 2010

Raymond Williams heads our congratulations by surpassing his many outstanding musical performances here at Kingsmead by achieving 10 A* GCSE grades and two A grades. We wish him every success as he moves on to the sixth form at The King's School, Chester.

An outstanding set of results for Rafe Dumbleton, including four A grades, adds to the celebration of his scholarship to Repton. A terrific achievement too for Alex Dacombe with two A*s, three As and five Bs.

The laurels go, not only to a few individuals, but to the entire cohort of students. For a non-selective school catering for a wide ability range, this year's statistics are very impressive: 83% of candidates scoring five or more A* - C grades. What is even more impressive is the number of pupils who performed well above the projection based on their base-line test taken on entry to the school. In this respect, special honours go to Anthony Campbell, Sarah Cope, Sean Derby, Stephanie Eastwood, Oliver Greenway, Elouise Park, Robert Shah, and Adam Swaine for the hard work and dedication that enabled them to achieve above their predicted grades. Alice Williamson deserves a special mention: an outstanding school citizen, Alice also achieved an accumulative total of 18 grades above her predicted grades. Similar praise goes to Sean Derby for outperforming himself by 14.5 grades.

Once again, every student graduating from the school this year has been successful in gaining their desired places on courses at a variety of schools and colleges including West Kirby Grammar School, Calday Grammar School, St. David's College and Welbeck College.

And the future looks bright! A group of Year 9 pupils took GCSE Religious Studies in Christianity and Ethics this summer. With no result below a B Grade, 75% of the class achieved A/A* grades.

GCSE results 2009

Take a bow, Chris Simpson! Chris, who distinguished himself so many times on the stage during his Kingsmead career, has this year returned some of the best GCSE results in the school's history.

Chris achieved no fewer than eleven passes, nine of which were at A* and the remaining two at grade A.

And Chris was not alone among Kingsmead students in celebrating after the publication of the 2009 GCSE results.

Andrew Potter, Keir Roberts, Myles Webb, Daniel Rush, Matthew Schanck, Tom Wrightson and Liam Donnelly led the way for the boys with Abigail Williams and Laura Mackay taking the honours for the girls.

The headline figures show 76% of all results at grade C or above, with 82% of students earning five or more passes at grades A* to C.

Maths led the way this year, with three students earning A* passes, a statistic matched by Biology. English and English Literature were also strong, with no student receiving a grade lower than a C.

There were further A* grades spread broadly across the curriculum, in Art, Chemistry, English, Geography, History, Physics, RE, and Modern Languages.

Head of Maths and Examinations officer Mary Eaton was delighted. "These results show the value of hard work. It is very rewarding to see so many high grades, and to see such good performances from students who find the going tough. We celebrate them all."

GCSE results 2008

August 2008 saw the record books being re-written at Kingsmead as the school notched up its finest performance ever at GCSE.

Rebecca Parsonage led the way with six ‘A’ stars and one ‘A’ grade, one of ten students who obtained  ten  passes at grades A* to C.  Head Boy Mark Eisner also excelled with six subjects at ‘A’ and ‘A*’ in a set of ten GCSE’s, and Chris Munn amassed 9 top grades (6A’s, 3A*s) in his 10 subjects. There were fine performances from so many students, evidence of the Kingsmead ethos of hard work and high expectations within a fulfilling and rounded education.

Overall, results including Maths and English were a highly creditable 72% ‘A*’ - ‘C’, a statistic which compares very favourably with many similar schools and significantly above the national average.

The overall A*-C pass rate was 74%, a fact of which Headmaster Mr Perry was justifiably proud. “These results are outstanding in a non-selective school. Rebecca has deserved her amazing results but there were so many good performances from students for whom a ‘C’ was a realistic target. These results are a credit to the students and to their families, as well as being a testament to the dedicated and inspirational teachers we have here.”

GCSE results 2007

The 2007 GCSE exam results were dominated by an outstanding performance from Head Girl Emily Shah who picked up seven A* grades in a top class set of results. Emily, who is intending to study medicine at University, has moved on to study ‘A’ levels at a local Sixth Form.

There was good news too for a great many of the year group, all of whom have been able to move on to their chosen phase of further education.

There was particular praise amongst others for Deputy Head Boy James Dove, who worked amazingly hard to achieve a stunning set of grades.

Headteacher Jonathan Perry explained “At Kingsmead we are proud to have an open admissions policy, which means that we do not select our pupils on academic criteria. Unlike Emily, James was not predicted high GCSE grades, but the effect of small classes, good teaching, excellent parental support and good old fashioned hard work has brought him what he and his family deserved. We celebrate James’ success every bit as much as Emily’s fantastic results, because at Kingsmead we pride ourselves in achieving the best we can with our students, regardless of their baseline ability.”

Deputy Headteacher Julian Eisner was equally enthusiastic. “We have excellent teaching here for the full ability range.” he said. “Our proven track record with the most able is there for all to see, and there is further proof this year that all children can thrive and learn raise their own expectations of themselves here.”

August 2006 had seen results received for the largest year group Kingsmead has ever entered at GCSE level, reflecting the growing confidence of parents in the Senior department which has taught to this level since 1999.

Neither the school nor the group was disappointed as the strongest ever set of results were celebrated all day long and beyond!

Over 71% of candidates achieved grades from A* to C. In addition, the proportion of A* and A grades was up to 20%, the best in the school’s history. Science was a particular favourite, with a total of 15 top grades in Biology, Chemistry and Physics.